Greg Bruises Easily
by Rain n Dream
Summary: Greg hasn't been his usual self lately and everyone starts to worry. When Rodrick finally reaches out to his younger brother, he realizes the wimp needs him more than ever. Bromance/Brotherly love.


**Greg Bruises Easily.**

_**A/N: Hey everyone, thank you for clicking on this fanfic. I do not own **_**Diary of Wimpy Kid**_**, not the books, nor the movies, nor the characters/cast or whatever.**_

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**Rodrick's P.O.V**

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It's so cold.

Freezing, actually.

Why did she have to leave in the middle of a storm like this?

Sure, she has this important meeting with the editor of the local newspaper, but can't it wait for another day?

It's snowing outside right now. None of the _other _people on our street dared to leave their house at the moment, simply because it was too cold.

Mom has just left, and she looked pretty funny; she wore so many coats,(even her expensive ones that dad had bought her not long ago, when they went out on vacation) so she can make it through the storm and get to her office. Of course, she was going to drive her car, which was a plus.

At first, I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of her. Mom looked really funny with all the coats she was wearing.

You know, in the old cartoons, when one of the characters was sick and they had to wear warm clothes that made them look like a giant ball of fur? Yeah, that's how my mom looked like right before she left the house. She even started to giggle herself once she saw her reflection in the mirror.

To tell you the truth, I don't think it's going to work. It's _still _so cold inside the house, even though we turned the heat on, so there's _no_ way wearing layers of clothes will keep mom warm.

"_Don't forget to put Manny to sleep._"

Oh, right. It was time to put Manny to bed. Right now, the clock showed it was past eight, which meant that we needed to take care of the little kid living in the house now.

He was sitting on the floor of the living room, smiling widely at the screen, hypnotized by the colorful, dancing characters. He always liked to watch this show. Sometimes, when he can't sleep, we let him watch the show until he gets tired. It works every time.

"Greg!" I called the little brat, also known as my brother. Where the hell is he?

Earlier today, when he got home from school, he just went to his room and stayed there. It seemed like he was there the entire day. He didn't speak to anyone today, nor did he come out of his room. Even when mom told him to come downstairs, like she always does when she gathered everyone around the table, he said he wasn't feeling well. Mom can definitely tell when either of us is lying, so, when she came downstairs, I expected him to follow behind her. Instead, she just sat at the table next to dad. It wasn't very hard to see that she was worried about Greg.

I guess he really is sick.

But seriously, I can't put Manny to sleep. I don't know how to take care of babies, and he never listens to me. He likes Greg better, and the job always gets done faster when he takes care of the toddler himself.

"Greg!"

"What?" he answered.

Finally.

This is the first word I've heard coming from him the entire day.

Not long had passed before Greg managed to make his way downstairs. Once he reached the ground floor, he leaned against the wall and looked at me. He was pale, and his eyes were pretty red, so he must be really tired. The look on his face was really serious, something that I wasn't able to recognize on my brother's face. Usually, he rolled his eyes when we were around each other. This time, he didn't even bother to ignore me or even look the other way; he just looked straight into my eyes, right before a light yawn escaped his mouth. Yeah, he seemed really tired.

Oh well.

"Mom said you need to put Manny to bed." I said as I crossed my arms. I leaned against the wall just like he did a few seconds ago.

"No, she asked you to do that." He replied before he moved from where he was standing and started to make his way towards the living room.

I was about to answer that, but it seemed like Gregie wasn't in the mood to argue today. Well, he was acting pretty strange the entire day, so this was really no surprise.

Seriously, what's wrong with the wimp?

Greg moved his hands towards Manny, who was now asleep. A light moan of pain escaped his mouth, which seemed rather odd to me.

Manny was sleeping like… a baby. Not long ago, he was watching the television, but it seemed like he fell asleep while I was busy talking to Greg.

Greg than grabbed the toddler from the bottom using one hand, and put his other on his back, right before he stepped towards the stairs and headed to Manny's room.

I followed him from behind. I had to make sure Manny was in bed, you know, since I_ am_ in charge, after all.

Not long had passed and the toddler was lying in his crib. His eyes were closed and the relaxing sounds of his breath hypnotized both me and Greg. We were standing right in front of the boy and watched him losing himself in his own dreams.

"Can you turn the television off? It's making a lot of noise." Greg said as he started to walk downstairs. We were able to hear the dialogue between the two characters of that show Manny had been watching, even though the television was in the living room.

I should probably turn it off.

"No," I said, "Do it yourself." I continued to follow him from behind.

When we reached the living room, Greg moved towards the television and turned it off. He than grabbed a pillow from the couch and once again turned to walk towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" I asked him. He stopped right there in his place and looked at me.

"I'm tired."

"You're going to sleep?" I leaned against the wall.

"Yeah."

"Why? It's only nine o'clock."

"So what?"

I looked at Greg the whole time. By the look of his eyes, it wasn't very hard to see that he needed to get some rest.

Now that I think about it, why is he tired? He stayed in his room the entire day. I assumed he took a nap in the afternoon. And besides, even if he didn't, it's not very late, and there's no school tomorrow. He never went to sleep this early.

"Fine, go to sleep." I offered.

Greg moved from where he was standing and started to walk up the stairs. As he passed right next to me, I lifted my arm and shoved him by pressing my hand against his shoulder. It was nothing serious, really. I expected him to hit me back or be mad at me.

However, his reaction was different than usual.

Something weird happened.

The moment I touched his shoulder, Greg's face became red as a tomato. A sharp moan of pain escaped his mouth right before the pillow he held with his right hand fell to the floor. He closed his eyes as he started to breathe slowly.

What the hell is going on?

Something was _definitely_ off. Greg was in pain.

"You moron!" he glanced at his shoulder before he turned his gaze back to me, "Why did you do that?" he yelled. Usually, I would kill him for calling me names, but that didn't matter at the moment; the wimp was acting strange. Greg looked at his shoulder as he continued breathing slowly in order to somehow ease the pain.

There is no way my hand caused him to react like this. It was a light shove, something I would always do when he was around. I've never seen him like this.

"What happened to your shoulder?"

"What?"

"Let me see." I said right before I stepped towards him, and aimed my hand at his short sleeve.

Without asking for permission, I placed my hand on his arm and unfolded the sleeve of his shirt.

"W-What are you-" Greg tried to push me away but to no avail.

"Stay still!" I ordered, and the boy obeyed. I could tell that he was pretty scared of my reaction. Sometimes, I knew exactly how to make him shut his mouth and listen.

I grabbed his arm and tightened my grip as I didn't want him to move, although he did a great job listening to me. Slowly, I unfolded the sleeve all the way until his shoulder was fully exposed. He groaned in pain as I did so.

I was actually very surprised he let me touch him like that, especially now, after he hasn't spoke to any of us the entire day and stayed in his room for what seemed like forever.

"Don't touch it!" Greg said, but my finger already pressed against his shoulder as I looked at what was there.

I didn't know what to say.

What is this?

There was a large, purple bruise on Greg's shoulder.

I removed my finger and loosened my grip from his arm as I looked at him. He didn't know what to say, and he didn't even have the courage to look at me; he was embarrassed.

"Who did this to you?"

"No one."

"You probably didn't do that to yourself, right?"

"Of course not!"

"Then what the hell is going on?"

Greg didn't answer, he just continued to stand there and stare at the ground. Did he do that to himself, or was it someone else?

There is no way mom or dad would do that, and I can't remember the last time I hurt someone that bad.

"Just leave me alone." Greg said right before he turned to the stairs.

I grabbed his arm, again.

"What the fuck, Greg?"

"Let me go!"

"This is serious. Tell me what happened before I'll find out _myself_." I yelled at him. He didn't move much after the words I said; he just stood there and looked at me. His face turned red, probably because of how angry he was.

"It's none of your business."

"Alright. You can wait 'til mom finds out about this." I crossed my arms, and looked at Greg.

He rolled his eyes and sighed.

I knew it would work.

"It was some kid from school." He said.

"What did he do to you?"

Greg was acting strange. As he stood in front of me, I was shocked at how hesitated to answer the wimp was. He didn't want to tell what was wrong, but there was no doubt something bad happened to him at school today.

"He slapped my shoulder really hard, than shoved me to the ground."

I was surprised by what Greg said. I thought he was doing well in his school. He always talked about how he was having a good time with Rowley and Holly. His sudden change in behavior was random and unexpected; none of us (meaning my parents and I) knew what to do and how to handle this kind of situation.

Honestly, I didn't really care about him staying in his room the entire day until I saw that bruise.

Damn, it was huge.

"He also kicked me." Greg said before his eyes met mine.

I didn't know what to do. We never really spoke with each other about these sorts of things, nor cared about them. Greg himself was never in the mood to talk to me, probably because I was busy making his life miserable.

But this was serious, so I had to talk to him.

It's just that… I didn't know what to say.

"Ha, you don't even care." He said right before he started to walk towards the stairs.

"That's not true."

"So you do care?" he stopped, and turned to look at me.

I didn't respond.

This was getting awkward.

I just stood there. Greg seemed pretty frustrated and upset right now. He just got beaten by some kid from his school and there was no doubt he was worried about the next time he will have to see him. Now that I got the explanation I wanted, there was nothing I could do to help.

"Just don't tell mom, okay?" he asked.

I didn't answer.

"Rodrick, _please_."

"Alright." I relented.

Greg turned around and started to climb upstairs, back to his room.

I wanted to say something, I really did. He was in pain, and I knew I could somehow help him.

It's jus that... it was so awkward, you know?

We never really helped each other, and... I don't know.

Greg's disappearance was followed by a soft noise coming from the door of his room that he had just slammed shut quietly. He didn't want to wake Manny up.

I looked at the clock. It was almost ten, and mom said she'd be back in two hours or so. That means she'd be here any minute.

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"Did you put Manny to sleep?" Mom said as she closed the door behind her. She looked really funny with the snow covering her hair and the coats. She was also shaking because of how cold it was outside. She removed the ridiculous amount of coats from her body and dropped them on the chair next to the door.

"Yes, I did." I said as I looked at the brunette making her way towards me.

"Really?"

"Actually, Greg kind of helped me… a lot."

Mom smiled at me. She knew exactly what I meant. She than walked towards the kitchen and grabbed a glass that rested on the counter.

"I hope you two didn't do any trouble while I was gone."

I leaned against one the chair behind me as I looked at her.

"Actually, there's something I need to tell you."

Mom put the glass back on the kitchen counter before she turned to look at me. She looked surprised, probably because I never really spoke to her like that.

"What is it?"

I had to do it. Greg was in pain and no one knew about this. Who knows what that bully would do to him the next time they meet at school?

I wanted to help Greg and tell him that I can teach that kid a lesson, but he already went back to his room, and I felt pretty awkward offering my help.

Ha, I must be really stupid to just let my brother handle this kind of thing all by himself.

I told mom everything that happened between Greg and me while she was gone. I explained her the reason for Greg's sudden change in behavior, and made sure to let her know exactly what Greg had been through today in school.

She was in a total shock. Thank God Greg was asleep; I was pretty sure she wanted to just go there and talk to him about that.

I promised not to tell, but I couldn't just stand there and watch him suffer.

Yes, I have to admit – I felt sorry for Greg; I wanted to help him.

At the end of our conversation, mom smiled at me. She thanked me for telling her right before she went to her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

I decided it was finally time to go to sleep.

Maybe tomorrow Greg will feel better.

As I climbed up the stairs, I passed my room. In front of me was the door to Greg's bedroom. It was slightly open, so I decided to check on him. Carefully, I made my way towards his door.

He was asleep.

I went back to my room, and locked the door behind me.

My brother needed my help, and I just stood there and did nothing but stare at him as he went back to his room. I didn't say or do anything to make him feel better. At the end of the day, Greg believed that his older brother couldn't care less.

That was _not_ true.

I shoved my face right into the soft pillow as I closed my eyes.

Well, mom knows about this; I just told her. He asked me not to talk about it with anyone, but she needs to know; she can end this immediately.

So yeah, I did kind of help him.

I know it's not really that much, but at least it will put end to this.

No matter what happens, I've got his back.

After all, he's my little brother. I will always be there for him.

_Hey_, _**wait just a second**_,

Don't tell him I said that; he doesn't need to know…

I've got a reputation, you know.

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_**A/N: Hey everyone, lol. I hope you liked this fic. I tried to show Rodrick's thoughts in situations like this when Greg needs him. Rodrick never really cared for his brother, and, now that he does, he's too shy to admit it, haha.**_

_**Also, this started as a one shot but I'm thinking of making this a full story with chapters. What do you think? Tell me on your review.**_

_**Speaking of reviews, I know many of you fav and follow my fanfics. Please, it would totally make my day if you write review, even if it's just a few words. The site made it quite easy for you to write a comment and favorite/follow/whatever all at the same time without much effort. Write something; you've got nothing to lose, and it would make me really happy :)**_

_**I will only write more if I get enough reviews, haha. Yeah, I went there!**_

_**Thanks for my lovely beta reader, Almost Genius for beta reading this fanfic =)**_

_**Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed :)**_


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